Basically, doctors would heat up the man’s testis with therapeutic ultrasound to the point that he would no longer produce sperm. It’s a completely painless, non-surgical treatment that takes just two 15-minute sessions and would ideally offer months of protection from accidentally getting a woman pregnant.

The downside is that for now, at least, it’s still a theoretical treatment that hasn’t been approved for use in humans.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have confirmed they were able to perform the treatment on rats, which provided effective sterilization that appeared to be temporary.

Researchers at the University of California-Davis have tried to replicate the process on monkeys, but with limited results.

Still, some scientists are hopeful the technique can one day be adapted to work on human men.

“Sperm production is very robust; this ensures the survival of a species. It’s really difficult to find a way to turn off the production of sperm, but ultrasound seems to do the trick,” study author Dr. James Tsuruta, assistant professor of pediatrics, said in a press release. “There is something special about heating with ultrasound—it caused 10-times lower sperm counts than just applying heat.”

“It’s a nice idea, but a lot more work is needed,” Dr Allan Pacey, at the University of Sheffield told the BBC. He added that while sperm would likely recover and begin production again it would need to be proven that the sperm is not permanently damaged.

Still isn’t it nice to think there are scientists out there who are trying to help men take more control over their reproductive lives?